Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Why We Feel: The Science of Human Emotions (Helix Books) by Victor S. Johnston ISBN: 0-7382-0316-5 Publisher: Perseus Book Group Pub. Date: 04 April, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.72 (18 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Virtual Reality
Comment: Johnston is extremely convincing in his explanation of how pleasant and unpleasant sensations evolved. For example, he explains that the pleasant sensation of "sweetness" is not a property of sugar molecules, but an illusion of the brain that emerged through natural selection because sugar is a great source of energy. Using persuasive reasoning he explains such things as why rotten eggs smell bad, why tissue damage causes the illusion of pain, and why we feel complex emotions such as love and sadness. This book is a great read that may just challenge your entire view of reality.
Rating: 2
Summary: dense cog-sci
Comment: I thought this book was going to talk more about specific emotions and why they are necessary for evolution and survival. It's actually a technical cog-sci evolution book, and somewhat disappointing. The last chapter summarizes what Johnston says in a complicated, redundant way for the rest of the book. The strong points are: his explanations of evolutionary opportunism, how evolution works, his "face prints" computer program, and the various computer models that simulate selection and genetics. His thesis is that the brain structures that allow emotions have evolved because they aided survival and thus gene reproduction. The feelings we have today were therefore necessary in ancestral environments, though not necessarily in modern environments. He also discusses the role of learning (which allows us to adapt to changing environments). Also interesting, his presentation of sensations and emotions, not as realities in the outside world (there is no "redness", only light waves), but as brain-created realities which don't necessarily mirror reality accurately, but in fact amplify some things to aid survival. I wonder if Jared Diamond does it better in The Third Chimpanzee?
Rating: 5
Summary: Theory is rich, convincing and clear.
Comment: The core of this book is a few chapters on the evolutionary benefit of emotion. I found the theory rich and convincing, and the writing clear; the theory explains, for example, why one emotion (positive or negative) evolved into multiple emotions, each related to a different aspect of gene survival, such as satisfying hunger, finding a mate, etc. Johnston's theory of emotion is a special application of a more general theory of consciousness. The rest of the book is kind of a grab bag. Johnston devotes too much space to refuting an alternative theory of human consciousness which he never adequately explains, and I suspect he is creating a straw man to argue against. There are a few chapters devoted to Johnson's own simulations and special interests, and a quick review of evolutionary processes in general. The review may be too quick for the unfamiliar reader. The simulations involve genetic algorithms and neural networks. I found the discussion of the former clear, but I was already familiar with the topic. I am also somewhat familiar with neural networks, and the book is inadequate here: Johnson seems to despair of explaining neural networks in a simple way, so kind of assumes the reader already understands them. Outside of his special areas of expertise, Johnson may be prone to error. Certainly, he is unaware of all the research on the socialization skills of primates, and I suspect that some of his statements on early child development are overly simplified.. All in all, this was a five star book for me, but it may not be for others with different backgrounds, either because they know less than me, or know more than me.
 |
Title: The Etiology, Concept, and Prophylaxis of Childbed Fever (Wisconsin Publications in the History of Science & Medicine) by Ignaz Semmelweis ISBN: 0299093646 Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press Pub. Date: 01 November, 1983 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
 |
Title: The Knowledge Evolution, Building Organizational Intelligence ISBN: 075069842X Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann Pub. Date: 23 April, 1997 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
 |
Title: The Academic Self: An Owner's Manual by Donald E. Hall ISBN: 0814250998 Publisher: Ohio State University Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
 |
Title: The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin, Paul Ekman, Philip Prodger ISBN: 0195158067 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
 |
Title: Ants at Work: How an Insect Society is Organized by Deborah M. Gordon, Michelle Schwengel ISBN: 0393321320 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: October, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
